Outgoing Maricopa County supervisors review tenure

There will be two new faces on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors next year, after a decade of the same membership.

Supervisors Don Stapley and Fulton Brock did not seek re-election this year. Stapley will return to the private sector, and Brock has not made public any definitive plans.

The Board of Supervisors oversees the operations and the $2.3billion annual budget of the nation’s fourth-most-populous county.

The Arizona Republic sat down with Stapley and Brock separately for unofficial exit interviews.

Don Stapley

Question: What do you feel proud of from your tenure?

Answer: Five elections, 18-plus years of service at the county level has been a great honor and stewardship. We’re financially strong. We have had a structurally balanced budget for many, many years ... . I think I’m probably going to be remembered mostly, because it was just in the most recent past years, for the green government initiatives and the solar energy applications that we have provided an example of ... . We provide more solar energy to our jails and new buildings, and the panels we placed on our parking garages provide us with sustainable energy as a supplement to the power needs of the county.

Q: If you got re-elected to another term what would you have wanted to accomplish?

A: I would like to have seen — and I think we will see — a continuation of the same policies to what we provided the citizens in terms of better-quality services, better infrastructure to meet the needs of the public health and criminal justice system — the main components of the budget — but I also would have liked to see us get our fiscal ship righted to have been able to give raises to employees.

Q: Anything you regret from your 18years?

A: Honestly, no. I hope I faced the adversity (with the Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney’s Office) with dignity. I said a few things in the heat of the moment that I would take back today. But I don’t think they were major mistakes. And I think at the end of the day, we’ve done a good job overall. The board has been a strong, unified voice for common good here in the county.

Q: Speaking of adversity, what was it like being one of the main targets in the political battles with the Sheriff’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office under Andrew Thomas?

A: (The failed criminal abuse-of-power investigation by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Thomas) has affected me and my family. Anyone can be falsely accused, anyone can be indicted. The question is: Were those charges thrown out and were you proven guilty or innocent? In our case, I think the disbarment of the rogue prosecutors and the facts as they came out in their trial clearly proved that the board and the individuals who were indicted were not guilty of any crime. And that the whole episode was just a very ugly power grab by an abuse of power.

Q: What advice would you give to your successor, Steve Chucri?

A: There’s no substitute for hard work and preparation. The issues that face the board — individual members as well as the board as a body — are very complex and oftentimes difficult to understand. And the only way to be properly informed and educated is to work hard and to do your preparation.

Fulton Brock

Q: How do you feel about leaving?

A: I have mixed feelings about leaving my elected office at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors because I’ve been here almost 16years. I feel like I’ve made some positive contributions. Hopefully the positive outweigh the negative. I’m very proud of some of the things I’ve been involved with at the county. (For example), when I got here the county was technically bankrupt. We had to take some drastic, alarming steps and decisions to reverse enormous problems that we had.

If I were here for another four years, I would’ve made a really, really hard push toward making metro Phoenix a medical mecca of America. TGen (Translational Genomics Research Institute) is something I’m proud of and helping to get that financed for major medical research. ... People think Phoenix is either a retirement community or golf courses or just desert. But you know, we have a lot of untapped potential here.

Q: What do you think was the greatest challenge you faced as a supervisor?

A: There have been several. One, of course, was finances. We came down the dusty road, the scary, near bankruptcy to one of the leading counties in the nation now. ... The challenge was the negative alignment of the sun, moon and stars of some rogue elected officials that really put Maricopa County in a gestapo-like condition for about three years. ... It’s breathtaking that that happened in the United States of America and in this modern day. Everybody in the community was intimidated. ... That was an ugly, stressful time for everybody.

Q: Do you think the sex scandal involving your now-ex-wife and daughter that came to light twoyears ago will impact on your legacy?

A: I’m not worried about my legacy. I think all I can be expected to do is to do the best I can do personally. ... But there’s no question that my personal challenges in my personal life have been struggles. They’ve been odd. They’ve been shocking. It still is shocking to me. But I have to live with it. I have to love my daughters and move on with my life. But I feel good about my service to the public.

Q: What advice would you give to your successor and friend Denny Barney?

A: I would hope that Denny would keep the fiscal restraints in place for the county. ... If he were sitting here, I’d say, be patient. It takes a lot of time to understand all the working parts of the county. Take a mouthpiece and go down to the Legislature because sometimes it’s not fun and sometimes they don’t fully understand county government even down there.

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